This week’s Friday 13th will sure not be an unlucky one for the Catholic Church. On that day we celebrate the second anniversary of the beginning of the Petrine ministry of Pope Francis. Few had believed that he could move the Church so much in just two years.
Francis is the example par excellence of the power of images, symbolic actions and metaphors. From that very first introductory moment on the balcony of St Peter’s till today a tsunami of refreshing comportment has presented a different style of being pope and a new set of priorities for the church.
World attention was focused on him on so many occasions and with it he garnered people’s interest for his vision for the church. He targeted clericalism; shunned the trappings of a medieval dress code; is all set to reform the Roman Curia and chose cardinals from dioceses that had never dreamed of having a cardinal.
He stressed that bishops and priests should smell like sheep. They should be "gentle, patient and merciful; animated by inner poverty, the freedom of the Lord and also by outward simplicity and austerity of life," he said. They should "not have the psychology of 'Princes.' "
Francis is not afraid to face arguments, disagreements and open debate. He told the bishops gathered for their synod on the family to speak with boldness. For ‘boldness’ he had purposely used the Greek word parrhesia a word which described the courage of St. Paul who strongly faced St. Peter at the council of Jerusalem that tackled the stern controversy about whether the Gentiles should follow Jewish practices.
"Open and fraternal debate makes theological and pastoral thought grow. That doesn't frighten me. What's more, I look for it," he said. "Speak clearly. Let no one say, 'This can't be said, they will think this or that about me.' "
One of the strong metaphors he had used during an interview with the Jesuit-owned periodical La Civilta Cattolica described the church as a field hospital for the wounded. That metaphor and his continuous emphasis on mercy is at the basis of all his actions.
He had asked the bishops of Brazil to try to discover why people leave the Church. Among the reasons he implored them to explore were the following: "the church appeared too weak," "distant from their needs," "cold," caught up with itself," "a prisoner of its own rigid formulas," "a relic of the past, unfit for new questions."
"We need a church," he concluded, "unafraid of going forth into their night ... capable of meeting them on their way ... capable of entering into their conversation ... able to dialogue with those" who have left the church.
The Pope has heralded a new style of being the Church. Will we follow it?